'A little bit of a humbling': Ravens blow lead to Browns, show why they're hard to trust (2024)

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BALTIMORE — The final piece of evidence, and probably the most convincing one, came with about 90 seconds to play. Cleveland Browns running back Jerome Ford kept driving his legs and, with the help of teammates, kept pushing Baltimore Ravens defenders back.

Ford seemed to be under control at the Ravens’ 33-yard line. If the Browns hadn’t advanced the ball much further, Dustin Hopkins would have had to at least hit a long field goal to win the game. Yet, the whistle never blew and Ford kept getting shoved forward. He finally went down at the Baltimore 27 after giving the Browns a fresh set of downs and forcing the Ravens to use their second timeout.

Two plays and a Deshaun Watson kneeldown later, Hopkins guided a 40-yard field goal through the uprights as the Browns officially erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit and beat the Ravens 33-31 before a stunned crowd at M&T Bank Stadium.

Hopkins’ kick, which avenged a missed extra point that would have tied the game eight minutes earlier, spurred a well-earned Cleveland celebration. It was the last of Ford’s 17 carries for 107 yards, though, that served as the game’s microcosm.

“A little bit of a humbling,” Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton said after the game. “The past two home games, being treated to 30-point wins, with the Lions and Seahawks — and came out today, it was looking the same. I feel like guys kind of let off the gas a little bit. Not pointing fingers at all. Just saying from top to bottom as an organization, I feel like we could do a better job of just locking in. Not that guys weren’t locked in, but just be that much more intense, even though we have a lead. I think we were up 15 in the third and had the chance to put them away.”

Regardless of what Ravens players said after the game, the Browns were the more physical, determined team. They controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Behind an offensive line with two backup tackles, Cleveland rushed for 178 yards and held the ball nearly 10 minutes longer than Baltimore. Dealing with both shoulder and ankle injuries, Watson, not Lamar Jackson, was the quarterback who made the winning plays in the fourth quarter. Clearly hobbled, Watson was still running by Ravens defenders and through arm tackles and sack attempts.

Defensively, the Browns lost most of their secondary during the game. Yet, their defense had a fourth-quarter pick six and then forced a Ravens punt to get their offense the ball back. The Browns got the stop they needed. The Ravens did not. On Cleveland’s game-winning drive, the Browns dug out of a second-and-19 hole, went 58 yards on 12 plays and absorbed the game’s last 4:55 to put Hopkins in position for redemption.

As a result, the Ravens are 7-3 and 2-2 in the AFC North. Their hope of creating some breathing room in the division is gone with the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers both 6-3. In four days, Baltimore has to host a desperate 5-4 Cincinnati Bengals team.

“I thought we played very hard, we fought, we competed, but we did not play well enough,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We did not play the kind of winning football that we need to play to win a game like that. Different situations, all three phases and the coaching staff, so we have to put it behind us. It’s a long season in the NFL. You have games like this.”

With the Ravens, though, these games happen far too often. In seven of their 10 regular-season losses dating back to the start of last season, they have squandered two-possession leads. That includes two of their three losses this year. In the one exception, a Week 3 overtime defeat to the Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore blew a three-point lead over the final two minutes of regulation. The Ravens also have blown a league-high nine games with a seven-point or more lead in the fourth quarter since the start of 2021.

After the defeat to Pittsburgh this year, in a game where the Steelers scored the game’s final 17 points, Ravens inside linebacker Patrick Queen described it as the “same old story.” On Sunday, they added another frustrating chapter in a game where they never trailed until Hopkins’ field goal with no time remaining.

never a doubt 🥲 pic.twitter.com/H69iQEtglL

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) November 12, 2023

According to Elias Sports, the Ravens are the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to lose a game they led in the first minute — Hamilton had an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage — and didn’t trail until the final minute.

“You get put in a situation where it’s kind of a dog fight, it’s a close game,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “These are the types of games that you’ve got to win (and) you’ve got to be great at. Everyone has got to lock in. No matter what happens in the first half, third quarter or however much you’re up by, when it comes to that fourth quarter, it’s time to go.

“It felt like we had control of the game. It’s just making plays and not making mistakes. We hurt ourselves a lot.”

This is who the Ravens have been. When everything is going right and they’re not making mistakes, they’ve shown an ability to pound teams — good ones, too — into submission. Yet, when teams have been able to keep the game close in the fourth quarter, the Ravens have too often buried themselves amid a flurry of mistakes.

A clear pattern has emerged for opponents. Keep it close and see if the Ravens fold. They sure did Sunday.

“We just have to finish the game,” Jackson said.

The Ravens led 14-0 less than five minutes into the game. They led 17-3 at the end of the first quarter, thanks partly to Keaton Mitchell, who had a 39-yard touchdown run and a 32-yard reception early. Yet, he curiously got only one touch in the second half. Baltimore’s lead grew to 24-9 early in the third quarter, and it still held a 31-17 advantage 3 1/2 minutes into the fourth quarter.

Watson, though, hit Elijah Moore for a 10-yard touchdown to make it a 31-24 game. Two plays later, Jackson’s pass attempt to fullback Patrick Ricard in the flat was deflected by defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo. Greg Newsome II corralled the ball and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown, which cut the Ravens’ lead to 31-30 with 8:16 to play after Hopkins pushed the extra point attempt wide left.

OMG BROWNS PICK-6

📺: #CLEvsBAL on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/kECSNGc6Bj pic.twitter.com/Gyb9N8rpId

— NFL (@NFL) November 12, 2023

The Ravens got one first down before giving the ball back to Watson, who engineered the game-winning drive. The big play before Ford grinded out a 12-yard run was Watson connecting with Amari Cooper for 17 yards on second-and-19. Cooper found a void in the middle of the field, which was open to Cleveland all day, and Watson had the time behind a patchwork offensive line to deliver the pass.

“We didn’t play our specific zone coverages there, our split safety coverages very well, and that’s what happened,” Harbaugh said when asked why the middle of the field was so open.

Watson was 3-for-3 for 30 yards and had a 16-yard run on the Browns’ final drive. In the second half, Watson completed all 14 of his passing attempts. Jackson was anointed the midseason NFL MVP in various places. However, he struggled for much of the afternoon, completing just 13 of 23 pass attempts for 223 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He rushed eight times for 41 yards.

In a battle of the league’s top-two defenses statistically, the Ravens had an opportunity to prove they had the league’s best unit. Instead, the Ravens, on their home field nonetheless, allowed a struggling Cleveland offense to score points on five of its final six possessions

“It’s definitely a loss that shouldn’t have happened,” said Ravens defensive lineman Justin Madubuike. “Every week you’re supposed to come bring your best, and we didn’t do that today, so we have to get better.”

Then, there was the talk coming in about how the Ravens had the best team in the league. That will be quieted this week as they get ready for the Bengals in the face of new injury concerns for their top cornerback, Marlon Humphrey, who went down on a non-contact play with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury; and starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who got rolled up on and hurt his knee. Harbaugh provided no updates on either after the game.

The Ravens had an opportunity to go into that Bengals game in firm control of the AFC North. Instead, they’re dealing with the same old questions about the reality that they’ve become a very hard team to trust.

“Every Sunday isn’t going to be our day,” Jackson said. “Today, it wasn’t.”

(Photo of Deshaun Watson: Nick Wass / Associated Press)